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By Helena Walkowiak and Maura Soucy Brown In SIAPS’ upcoming webinar on defining and measuring pharmaceutical systems strengthening (PSS), we’ll talk briefly about the development of a new tool that SIAPS and its partners are piloting. It’s intended to help the field measure the impact of PSS efforts. Some background on this activity: SIAPS has […]

As part of World Antibiotic Awareness Week 2017, we present a Q&A with Mohan P. Joshi, MBBS, MSc, MD, SIAPS principal technical advisor. Dr. Joshi is responsible for providing technical guidance and support in the planning and implementation of rational medicine use and antimicrobial resistance (AMR)-related activities. Are there new AMR threats that are particularly worrying? […]

A Q&A with Greatjoy Mazibuko, SIAPS Senior Technical Manager in Namibia You’re working in Namibia, which has one of the highest prevalence rates of HIV in the world. How does this affect life in the country? The prevalence of HIV infection stood at 17.2% in 2016, which is relatively high for sub-Saharan Africa, but it’s […]

When the World Health Organization declared the Ebola epidemic over on November 7, 2015, about 40% of the 8,704 people infected had died. The country’s health system, or what was left of it after a decade of civil war that ended in 2002, was ailing, too. Some health workers had become ill or left, leaving […]

An interview with Murtada Sesay, country project director in Sierra Leone. SIAPS is working on a two-year project funded by USAID to help rebuild and strengthen the country’s pharmaceutical system following the Ebola epidemic. What’s SIAPS doing in Sierra Leone? Our systems strengthening project there was a consequence, not only of the more recent Ebola, […]

By Francis (Kofi) Aboagye-Nyame, SIAPS Director You can’t put a price tag on health, but we do have budgets that determine what we can spend to help countries improve theirs. At SIAPS, that means we need to look closely at the impact each dollar we spend has on achieving our goal: strengthening the management of […]

SIAPS supports its country partners by increasing access to effective pharmaceutical products and services and by strengthening pharmaceutical governance. Eliminating stock-outs, avoiding delays, and building human resources and institutional capacity are key to defeating malaria. Below are highlights of some key projects. Building Pharmaceutical Management Capacity in South Sudan Malaria is one of the leading […]

An interview with Andwele Mwansasu, MD, SIAPS Senior Technical Advisor What innovations in fighting malaria over the past five years have particular promise? Has there been a watershed moment? With decreasing malaria burden all over the world, a lot has been happening in the malaria world to sustain these gains. Countries are able to detect […]

By Claude Bahati, Deputy Country Project Director, SIAPS, Guinea Accurate quantification for malaria programs, which involves forecasting the quantities needed and planning for the procurement of appropriate pharmaceuticals and supplies, is essential to ensuring that patients receive a continuous supply of commodities. The US Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded Systems for Improved Access to Pharmaceuticals […]

New medicines and regimens, such as bedaquiline, delamanid, and the newly approved short course regimen, are an exciting development given that first- and second-line TB medicines have limited efficacy and potentially serious adverse effects. With the introduction of new TB medicines and regimens, some countries may target only the minimum WHO-recommended conditions (i.e., proper patient […]